Back in April of 2017, then Ben Franklin Parkway erupted when it was announced that the hometown Philadelphia Eagles selected Sidney Jones in the 2nd round of the draft.
Of course at the time everyone realized that Jones had suffered a major achilles injury that would cost him pretty much all of 2017. He played in Week 17 of that season and that was it, but he earned a Super Bowl ring in the process.
Fast forward to about halfway through the 2019 campaign, and the narrative has shifted on the once beloved draft pick. Fans see him as a bust because of his inabilities to keep up with receivers, and constantly get fooled on all sorts of different routes. The coaching staff began souring on Jones earlier this month, when Doug Pederson called out Jones specifically in one of his press conferences by saying he needed to push himself. Now Jones appears to have run out of time to prove himself, as he was pushed all the way to the bottom of the depth chart for the Sunday Night game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Jones had zero snaps in Dallas. Orlando Scandrick (who has since been released from the team) had 46 snaps, and Craig James (who wasn't on the roster to start the season) got 4 snaps on the field Sunday. According to Pederson, that was all intentional:
So what is Jones' future like in Philadelphia? It doesn't appear bright. Ronald Darby is expected to return to the field against the Buffalo Bills, and Jalen Mills has already returned from his injury. Cre'Von LeBlanc is expected to return after the Bills game, and Avonte Maddox could be returning soon as well. If Jones is already behind James on the depth chart, we might see Jones hit the road before the end of the 2019 season.
The trade deadline is one week from today, and hopefully he is on the phone trying to see if there's a desperate team out there willing to give the Eagles a late-round pick to acquire the once valued cornerback. Don't expect to see #22 on the field in the near future in Philadelphia, and who know, we might have already seen the last of Jones in midnight green.
